As is known, operating electronic devices produce heat. This heat should be removed from the devices in order to maintain device junction temperatures within desirable limits. Failure to remove the heat thus produced results in increased device temperatures, potentially leading to thermal runaway conditions. Several trends in the electronics industry have combined to increase the importance of thermal management, including heat removal for electronics devices, including technologies where thermal management has traditionally been less of a concern, such as CMOS. In particular, the need for faster and more densely packed circuits has had a direct impact on the importance of thermal management. First, power dissipation, and therefore heat production, increases as device operating frequencies increase. Second, increased operating frequencies may be possible at lower device junction temperatures. Further, as more and more devices are packed onto a single chip, power density (Watts/cm2) increases, resulting in the need to remove more power from a given size chip or module. These trends have combined to create applications where it is no longer desirable to remove heat from modern devices solely by traditional air cooling methods, such as by using traditional air cooled heat sinks. These trends are likely to continue, furthering the need for alternatives to traditional air cooling methods.
One approach to avoiding the limitations of traditional air cooling is to use a cooling liquid. As is known, different liquids provide different cooling capabilities. In particular, liquids such as refrigerants or other dielectric fluids (e.g., fluorocarbon fluid) exhibit relatively poor thermal conductivity and specific heat properties, i.e., when compared to liquids such as water or other aqueous fluids. Dielectric liquids have an advantage, however, in that they may be placed in direct physical contact with electronic devices and interconnects without adverse affects such as corrosion or electrical short circuits. For example, U.S. Pat No. 6,052,284, entitled “Printed Circuit Board with Electronic Devices Mounted Thereon”, describes an apparatus in which a dielectric liquid flows over and around several, operating electronic devices, thereby removing heat from the devices. Similar approaches are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,655,290, entitled “Method for Making a Three-Dimensional Multichip Module” and U.S. Pat. No. 4,888,663, entitled “Cooling System for Electronic Assembly”.
Other cooling liquids, such as water or other aqueous liquids, exhibit superior thermal conductivity and specific heat compared to dielectric liquids. Water-based coolants, however, must be kept from physical contact with electronic devices and interconnects, since corrosion and electrical short circuit problems are likely to result from such contact. Various methods have been disclosed for using water-based coolants, while providing physical separation between the coolant and the electronic devices. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,531,146, entitled “Apparatus for Cooling High-Density Integrated Circuit Packages”, discloses the use of a conductive foil barrier; U.S. Pat. No. 4,879,629, entitled “Liquid Cooled Multi-chip Integrated Circuit Module Incorporating A Seamless Compliant Member for Leakproof Operation”, and IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin Vol. 20, No. 2, Jul. 1977, entitled “Liquid Cooled Module with Compliant Membrane”, disclose the use of a flexible barrier with thermal conduction enhancements (thermal studs and heatsinks, respectively); and U.S. Pat. No. 4,381,032, entitled “Apparatus for Cooling High-Density Integrated Circuit Packages”, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,294,830, entitled “Apparatus for Indirect Impingement Cooling of Integrated Circuit Chips”, disclose the use of flexible barriers, where pistons are used to maintain contact between the barrier and the devices to be cooled.
Notwithstanding the above, there remains a large and significant need to provide further useful cooling apparatus enhancements for facilitating cooling of electronic modules, and particularly multi-chip modules.